Asked by: Gavin Newlands (Scottish National Party - Paisley and Renfrewshire North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the change in tax revenues as a result of the proposed ending of tax-free sales at airports to travellers to non-EU destinations.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
Ahead of the end of the transition period, the Government has announced the VAT and excise duty treatment of goods purchased by individuals for personal use and carried in their luggage to or from Great Britain. The following rules will apply from 1 January 2021:
- Passengers travelling from Great Britain to any destination outside the United Kingdom will be able to purchase duty-free excise goods once they have passed security controls at ports, airports, and international rail stations.
- Personal allowances will apply to passengers entering Great Britain from a destination outside of the United Kingdom, with alcohol allowances significantly increased.
- The concessionary treatment on tax-free sales of non-excise goods and the VAT Retail Export Scheme will not be extended to passengers travelling to the EU, and will be withdrawn for all passengers.
The Government published a consultation which ran from 11 March to 20 May. During this time the Government held a number of virtual meetings with stakeholders to hear their views and received 73 responses to the consultation. The Government has also continued to meet and discuss with key stakeholders following the announcement of these policies.
The concessionary treatment on tax-free sales currently affects airports that fly to non-EU destinations. The extension of duty-free sales to EU bound passengers will be a significant boost to all airports in England, Scotland and Wales, including Glasgow Airport and smaller regional airports which have not been able to offer duty-free before.
The final costing will be subject to scrutiny by the independent Office for Budget Responsibility and will be set out at the next forecast.
The Government also recognises the challenges the aviation sector is facing as it recovers from the impacts of Covid-19 and has supported the sector throughout the pandemic, and continues to do so, including schemes to raise capital, flexibilities with tax bills, and financial support for employees.
Asked by: Gavin Newlands (Scottish National Party - Paisley and Renfrewshire North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the change in tax revenues originating from aviation and aerospace-related activities in (a) 2020-21 and (b) the next three financial years.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
Forecasts of future receipts are produced by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) on a regular basis as part of their Economic and Fiscal Outlook series. The Chancellor of the Exchequer has asked the OBR to prepare an economic and fiscal forecast to be published in November.
Air Passenger Duty (APD) is the UK’s principal tax on the aviation sector. The OBR’s Fiscal Sustainability Report, published in July, has estimated APD receipts over the next five financial years under various scenarios. Under the central scenario, the OBR estimated that APD would raise: £1.3bn in 2020-21; £3.7bn in 2021-22; £3.8bn in 2022-23; £3.9bn in 2023-24 and; £4.1bn on 2024-25. The report acknowledges that these figures are “hugely uncertain”.
Asked by: Gavin Newlands (Scottish National Party - Paisley and Renfrewshire North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions have taken place between Ministers in his Department and representatives of Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd and Virgin Atlantic International Ltd on the operation and employment practices of Virgin Atlantic and any potential financial support available to that airline.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
Treasury Ministers and officials meet with a wide range of stakeholders across sectors as part of ongoing policy development and implementation.
Ministers and officials from the Department for Transport are in regular contact with airlines, airports and unions to understand the impact that COVID-19 is having on the sector and its workers.
Asked by: Gavin Newlands (Scottish National Party - Paisley and Renfrewshire North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the Barnett consequentials as a result of grant funding and loans provided by his Department to Transport for London during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Steve Barclay - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The UK government has agreed a £1.6 billion funding and financing package for Transport for London to protect key services. This is comprised of £1.095 billion of grant funding from the Department for Transport and a £505 million PWLB loan.
As a result of this package, the devolved administrations will receive over £200 million of additional funding: over £100 million for the Scottish Government, £65 million for the Welsh Government, and over £35 million for the Northern Ireland Executive.
Asked by: Gavin Newlands (Scottish National Party - Paisley and Renfrewshire North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether workers who had their hours of work cut in response to the covid-19 outbreak prior to the announcement of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme will be eligible for support at the rate of pay commensurate with the original number of hours worked.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Government seeks, as far as possible, to protect people’s jobs and incomes. This is an unprecedented jobs retention scheme and the Government has been working hard to set out further details on the scheme. The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme is open to any individual who was on an employer’s PAYE payroll on 19 March 2020. Full details can be found in the guidance available at www.gov.uk/guidance/claim-for-wage-costs-through-the-coronavirus-job-retention-scheme and www.gov.uk/guidance/work-out-80-of-your-employees-wages-to-claim-through-the-coronavirus-job-retention-scheme, which provides answers to these questions.
Asked by: Gavin Newlands (Scottish National Party - Paisley and Renfrewshire North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether there is a minimum number of hours worked per calendar week for an employee to be considered a furloughed worker for the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Government seeks, as far as possible, to protect people’s jobs and incomes. This is an unprecedented jobs retention scheme and the Government has been working hard to set out further details on the scheme. The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme is open to any individual who was on an employer’s PAYE payroll on 19 March 2020. Full details can be found in the guidance available at www.gov.uk/guidance/claim-for-wage-costs-through-the-coronavirus-job-retention-scheme and www.gov.uk/guidance/work-out-80-of-your-employees-wages-to-claim-through-the-coronavirus-job-retention-scheme, which provides answers to these questions.
Asked by: Gavin Newlands (Scottish National Party - Paisley and Renfrewshire North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 9 July 2019 to Question 272191 on Public Expenditure: Scotland, what comparability percentage will be applied to the Government’s contribution to the 2022 Commonwealth Games budget; and what his timescale is for the publication of the revised Statement of Funding Policy.
Answered by Rishi Sunak - Prime Minister, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service, and Minister for the Union
The UK government contribution to the 2022 Commonwealth Games budget is subject to the Barnett formula, which HM Treasury will apply in the normal way.
As with previous Commonwealth Games, a comparability factor of 100% will be applied for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
This will be reflected in the next edition of the Statement of Funding Policy, which is due to be published at the Spending Review in 2020.
At Spending Round 2019, HM Treasury published a Statement of Funding Policy addendum with updated comparability factors to reflect the creation of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and the reclassification of Network Rail spending from AME to DEL since Spending Review 2015.
Asked by: Gavin Newlands (Scottish National Party - Paisley and Renfrewshire North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to UK Government spending on the 2022 Commonwealth Games, what comparability percentage will be applied for the purpose of the Barnett formula.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
The UK Government contribution to the 2022 Commonwealth Games budget is subject to the Barnett Formula, which HM Treasury will apply in the normal way. The Treasury will work with the devolved administrations to update and publish comparability factors in a revised Statement of Funding Policy alongside the next Spending Review.
Asked by: Gavin Newlands (Scottish National Party - Paisley and Renfrewshire North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
What assessment he has made of the effect of the Government’s fiscal policies on household budgets in Scotland.
Answered by Mel Stride - Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
The Government publishes distributional analysis of the impact of fiscal policies across the UK income distribution.
At Autumn Budget, the Scottish Government benefited from a £2bn boost to their budget. Once the Scotland Act 2016 is fully implemented, more than 50% of the Scottish Government’s funding will come from revenues raised in Scotland. It is for the Scottish Government to take decisions across areas of devolved responsibility, including their own fiscal policy.
Asked by: Gavin Newlands (Scottish National Party - Paisley and Renfrewshire North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, when he expects his Department's review of airside VAT-free shopping to be published.
Answered by David Gauke
On 31 December 2015, the Chancellor announced a review of the tax treatment of airside retail sales, with a view to identifying options for passengers to receive more of the direct benefits. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has completed its initial fact finding.
The Government is keen to identify options that provide overall best value for travellers. This means fully understanding the potential impacts of possible changes on travellers, retailers and airports, and I have asked HMRC to explore these thoroughly. Once this work has been completed, decisions on the best way forward will be made in the autumn.